DO YOU THINK, GEORGE…?
How does Edleman, a company ranked number one with nearly three times the annual fees of its nearest competitor produce such a turkey as Wal-Marting Across America? (And did anyone there realize that Walmarting is a perjorative?)
I-boy asks the question and runs down the Jim and Laura nightmare from a Public Relations firm’s perspective. George Nimeh writes in Wal-Mart sucks with Edelman’s help:
As if the exposure and subsequent hubtastic failure of Wal-Mart’s social networking disaster was not enough, now comes this:
It now appears that “Wal-Marting Across America,” a blog and travel journal originally thought to have been created by a pair of average Americans has been exposed as an elaborate PR stunt. One of its two contributors was revealed to be Jim Thresher, a staff photographer for The Washington Post, and Edelman PR is backing the whole thing.
Shame on you Steve Rubel for letting something like this happen. Is this what you meant by Accelerating the Conversation? I have so much respect for much of what you’ve written, but this is sh*t and you know it.
Ouch, and you thought we were harsh?
Thanks for the shout-out.
Just calling it like I see it. No point in holding back, right?
Everyone is allowed to make mistakes, including Edelman. And for the record, my respect for Steve Rubel has not weaned. That said, given how quick he is to comment on most aspects of the PR-related blogosphere, it would be nice to hear his POV on this fine mess.
~G~
Shalom George,
That’s true. You’re absolutely right.
B’shalolm,
Jeff
[...] 1. Now we can be certain that Edelman understands just how badly it screwed up. I actually went to the Technorati tag for Walmartingacrossamerica earlier today (but for some reason can’t find the same one now) and it is not looking pretty. As Jeff pointed out last week, those P.R. types are harsh. If anything, the blogosphere coverage of this story is growing, not shrinking. Yet Wal-Mart remains comparatively unscathed next to Edelman. Would someone explain that to me? Where is Michael Barbaro when we need him? [...]